There was a small old car/machinery swapmeet near us yesterday, the first of hopefully many to come. After that I had a visit from a good friend in his 1951 Citroën Light 15 Traction Avant, inspecting the progress on my Trainbarn. I really enjoy visitors, for me that's what all the hard work is about. It certainly is my hope that once the 'barn is more 'finished' that groups of people, such as old car clubs, will enjoy visiting it while they're in the area. The roads and general scenery around our area are absolutely perfect for old cars to amble around on, perhaps visiting one or more of our excellent wineries along the way.
No trains set-up or running yet, of course, but some good progress in my new workshop/office, with the new shelves becoming ever more full.
It's been great moving stuff out of storage and making it usable again after quite a few years. Finding a few things I'd forgotten about and generally enjoying some sense of order again! Still lots more to go, as always, but great progress.
There's also a new little kitchenette for making smoko!
I couldn't resist a small display in one of the top shelves, some 1: 18 scale Citroëns.
A start has been made on the big storage shelves along the back wall, and these will come together quickly, hopefully finished by the end of the week. It's certainly great to have the time to get all this done!
It's been quite a while since the last update, but things have been anything but idle, with some really good progress on our Trainbarn. With the completion of all the wiring we're now able to start sheeting the walls, and the first area completed is the workshop/ storage area at the end of the 'barn. A tradesman plasterer did all the plasterwork, but I've done pretty much everything else, which has taken up an awful lot of time! Really great to see it completed though!
Today the carpet went down, and I'm really happy with it! I had a sample of a carpet that I really liked, but of course it was no longer available. I made the choice of this carpet from a very small sample, but I'm very pleased with it and I'll use the same carpet in the main display area.
I still need to install the architrave around the windows. Our local builder's supplies doesn't stock Tassie Oak, so I'm waiting until the end of the week to buy it down in Brisbane. The long bare wall opposite the windows will be mostly large shelves to hold the various trains and accessories not currently on display in the main area. It's going to be really exciting sorting everything out! For many years I've been buying trains here and there and storing them away relatively safely, but in no particular order. It will be amazing finally getting everything sorted out so that I can see what I've got and what I haven't!
I have looked forward to having a wonderful space like this for many years! With the huge amount of thought and work that is going into the building, I keep having to remind myself that my hobby is collecting and running toy trains, not building mammoth buildings!
